Slowly But Surely

Summary

Students will explore and experiment with various sentence structures. Students will identify nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs and use these parts of speech in writing sentences. Students will use addition and multiplication to compute the “value” of each sentence.

Coin Type(s)

Quarter

Coin Program(s)

50 State Quarters

Objectives

Students will explore and experiment with various sentence structures.

Students will identify nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs and use these parts of speech in writing sentences.

Students will use addition and multiplication to compute the “value” of each sentence.

Worksheets and Files

Session 1

Distribute one "Warm Up!" slip to each student and display the overhead transparency of the "Warm Up" page. Explain that the students will be reviewing what they know about nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Direct the students to complete the exercise individually.

Allow an appropriate amount of time for the students to complete the activity.

Review the "Warm Up!" page as a class. Record student responses on the overhead transparency.

Have the students brainstorm what other parts of speech they know or have heard of. If necessary, introduce the idea that an adverb is a part of speech and explain that the students will be exploring adverbs in this lesson.

Write the word "adverb" on a piece of chart paper. Have students discuss which other part of speech an adverb sounds like. The students should respond that the word "ad-verb" has the word "verb" in it.

Have the students predict what an adverb might be and record responses on chart paper.

Introduce the selected text.

Read the text aloud to the group. During the reading, attend to any unfamiliar vocabulary.

Have the students define "adverb." The students should respond that adverbs are words that tell more about verbs and describe how, when, or where something is done. Students should also recognize that many adverbs end in "ly."

Write the word "run" on the board. Point out that the word "run" is a verb that shows action. Have the students brainstorm different ways to run (fast, quickly, slowly, straight, crooked, swiftly, excitedly, etc). List these words on the board. Circle the brainstormed words and explain to the students that these words are adverbs. Point out that many of these words end in "ly."

Separate the class into groups of three and distribute one "Verb List" slip to each group.

Direct the groups to brainstorm two to four adverbs for each of the verbs listed on the page. Explain that all of the adverbs on their group worksheet should be different.

Allow an appropriate amount of time for the students to complete the activity.

Collect the group worksheets. Ask for one group to come up to the front of the class.

Read aloud the first verb from the list. Have the group act out this verb for the class. For example, if the verb is "run," students will run in place.

Then, read aloud one of the adverbs that the groups brainstormed. Direct the students to act out the verb in the way the adverb indicates. For example, students may run "slowly" or "quickly" in place.

Continue steps 16 and 17 with the other groups, using the remaining verbs and adverbs on the group worksheets.

Session 2

Display the overhead transparency of the "Challenge Yourself" page and distribute a "Challenge Yourself" slip to each student.

Direct the students to complete the activity according to the directions.

Review the activity as a class. Record student responses on the overhead transparency. Answer student questions.

Collect the "Challenge Yourself" slips from the students for assessment.

Explain to the students that they will be using what they know about parts of speech to play a game with coins.

Organize the students into pairs.

Give each pair an envelope of coin cut outs or real coins, if available, and one of the "Coin Codes" worksheets.

Explain that the students will be analyzing sentences for their parts of speech and assigning coin values to each word. Then, the students will calculate the value of each sentence.

Allow an appropriate amount of time for the students to complete the "Coin Codes" worksheets.

Review the activity as a class. Answer student questions.

Explain that each pair will now be creating its own coin code. Have each pair assign a coin (penny, nickel, dime, quarter) to each part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb).

Distribute one "Crack the Code!" page to each pair. Then, direct each group to create a key for their system. Explain that this key should be kept secret from the other groups.

Allow a few minutes for each pair to create its own coin code and key.

Direct each group to write five sentences and analyze them using its key. Then, direct the students to calculate the value of each sentence.

Explain that, in the next session, the students will be attempting to crack each others’ codes.

Session 3

Direct the students to meet in their pairs from the previous session.

Have each pair of students review its coin code and double-check the accuracy of the sentence coin values.

Explain that the students will try to break each others’ coin codes in this session.

Model the process of attempting to break a coin code. On the board, write the following sentence: "Mary walked quietly." Next to the sentence, write "40 cents" and indicate to the students that this is the sentence’s coin value.

Allow a few minutes for the students to figure out which coin values have been assigned to the parts of speech.

When most of the students feel they have cracked the code, write the following sentence on the board: "Billy creates beautiful drawings." Next to the sentence, write "21 cents" and indicate to students that this is the sentence’s coin value.

Direct the students to check their coin codes to see if they work for this sentence.

Have student volunteers share how they cracked this coin code. If necessary, reveal that your coin code assigned the following values to each part of speech: Noun: 5 cents, Adverb: 25 cents, Adjective: 1 cent, Verb: 10 cents.

Explain to the students that this is how they will try to break the codes of the other groups.

Direct each pair to copy the five sentences from their "Crack the Code" page onto a piece of paper. Have the students include the value of each sentence.

Direct each pair to swap papers with another group. The groups will try to break each other’s codes and will write down the keys.

Challenge the groups to continue swapping coin codes, breaking as many as possible.

Keep a tally on the board of how many codes each group has broken. At the end of class, determine which pair broke the most codes and declare them the "Crack the Code" experts.

Differentiated Learning Options

Students needing more practice with adverbs can visit any of the following sites for interactive practice identifying and using adverbs:

4.MD.1. Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm, kg, g, lb, oz, l, ml, hr, min and sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two column table.

For example, know that 1ft is 12 times as long as 1in. Express the length of a 4ft snake as 48in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), ...

4.MD.2. Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.

4.MD.3. Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in real world and mathematical problems. For example, find the width of a rectangular room given the area of the flooring and the length, by viewing the area formula as a multiplication equation with an unknown factor.

L.5.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Explain the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and their function in particular sentences.

Form and use the perfect (e.g., I had walked; I have walked; I will have walked) verb tenses.

Use verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states, and conditions.

Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.

Use correlative conjunctions (e.g., either/or, neither/nor).

L.5.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Use punctuation to separate items in a series.

Use a comma to separate an introductory element from the rest of the sentence.

Use a comma to set off the words yes and no (e.g., Yes, thank you), to set off a tag question from the rest of the sentence (e.g., It’s true, isn’t it?), and to indicate direct address (e.g., Is that you, Steve?).

Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works.

RL.4.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).

RL.4.5. Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.

RL.4.6. Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.

RL.4.7. Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

RL.4.8. not applicable to literature.

RL.4.9. Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

RL.6.7. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.

RL.6.8. not applicable to literature.

RL.6.9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Discipline: MathematicsDomain: All Problem SolvingCluster: Instructional programs from kindergarten through grade 12 should enable all students toGrade(s):
Grades K–12
Standards:

develop and use strategies to estimate the results of whole-number computations and to judge the reasonableness of such results;

develop and use strategies to estimate computations involving fractions and decimals in situations relevant to students' experience;

use visual models, benchmarks, and equivalent forms to add and subtract commonly used fractions and decimals; and

select appropriate methods and tools for computing with whole numbers from among mental computation, estimation, calculators, and paper and pencil according to the context and nature of the computation and use the selected method or tools.